Finding creative solutions for seemingly insurmountable problems is one of the things that Occupy does best, and Occupy Sandy has already taken that challenge and given it their own stamp. In the quest to obtain needed supplies for the ongoing storm recovery effort, the Occupy Sandy team has found a cool new use for the Amazon Gift Registry. This practical but verging-on-obnoxious tool for direct gifting isn't just for brides coveting $90 sugar bowls. Those eager to donate to the victims of Hurricane Sandy can login and choose sorely needed items and ship them directly to the Occupy Sandy relief outpost at the Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew in Brooklyn. Once they arrive, volunteers will organize daily deliveries to priority response locations like Staten Island and the Rockaways. The team is in the process of updating the registry with what is needed most for those affected areas. Items range greatly in price from packages of diapers to portable gas-powered generators. Local volunteers with more time than money still can, and should, help any way they can through http://interoccupy.net/occupysandy. But for those of us outside of the storm-ravaged locales, a unique opportunity to help our fellow humans is just a click away. (I've got my eye on the 18-Inch Annihilator Utility and Wrecking Bar.)

Uggh, like there aren't 100 mom and pop hardware stores with online registries we could have used for this instead of the monopolistic, indie bookstore killing, warehouse worker-mistreating Amazon? The symbolic fuck you of the registry is less important than the fact that encouraging this type of consumption only exacerbates the problems we fight in Occupy. A word to those who actually want to support Occupy and the people on the ground: shop local, or at least buy from some place OTHER than Amazon, Target, Walmart or any of the other low-wage big box retailers.

I sent 10 pairs of work gloves. Had to give my card info again for some reason. Some of the selections could have been better. Makita tools are very good but expensive. Black & Decker would be better. For portable tools B&D has a recharger for about $50 that's very fast. Takes about an hour to recharge. Very handy.